"Mother, let's go!" Tian Yanyu immediately began running towards Yuan the moment she saw him, and she grabbed Tian Suyin's arm before pulling her along.
The Rogue Cultivators were still in shock from their companion's sudden death, so they couldn't react in time and allowed the two of them to escape.
"We'll talk after I take care of the trash." Yuan said to Tian Yanyu as he withdrew the Empyrean Overlord.
Almost as though it was responding to Yuan's emotions, the Empyrean Overlord's aura gushed like water at the bottom of a waterfall.
"W-Wait!" The Rogue Cultivators subconsciously raised their hands to surrender.
They could tell that Yuan was a Spirit King and that nobody there would be able to defeat him even if they all fought together.
However, Yuan wasn't interested in sparring these Cultivators and swung the Empyrean Overlord without hesitation.
A powerful sword light strengthened by Enhanced Sword Qi immediately flew towards the Cultivators.
Everything happened so fast that the Rogue Cultivators couldn't even escape if they wanted, so they had no choice but to try and block the attack.
Unfortunately for them, their techniques were all destroyed as soon as they were deployed.
Nothing could stop the sword light from killing these Cultivators today.
Sha!
The following moment, the Cultivators dropped dead on the ground with their bodies severed in half, their spiritual energy absorbed by the Empyrean Overlord.
[Awakening Progress: 10.01%]
Killing eight Spirit Lord Cultivators was only enough to increase the progress by 0.01%. As for the 10 percent, it actually came from the Sword Pagoda, unbeknownst to Yuan at the time.
Besides the Empyrean Overlord's awakening, the Sword Pagoda rewarded Yuan with all of the spiritual energy he'd gathered from each floor, but since his body couldn't absorb them, it was absorbed by the Empyrean Overlord instead.
Yuan ran back to Tian Yanyu and her mother after dealing with the Rogue Cultivators.
"Senior, you're hurt." Yuan quickly retrieved a pill for her injuries. "Here, take this."
"I'm fine. Where the hell did you go, anyway?" Tian Suyin said as she accepted the pill.
"Sorry, I decided to look around while you guys cultivated. I shouldn't have left you guys alone. This is all my fault."
"Nonsense! Those Rogue Cultivators were 100 percent at fault there! Don't kick yourself for their actions, Xiao Yang. And thank you for saving us. I don't even want to imagine what could've happened if you didn't come in time." Tian Yanyu shivered just thinking about it.
"Anyways, I'm just glad that nothing serious happened to you. I won't leave you two alone anymore. I promise."
"Good, because I am going to cultivate again to recover my exhausted spiritual energy." Tian Suyin said as she sat cross-legged on the ground. She'd used almost all of her spiritual energy to fight off the Rogue Cultivators, after all.
"Me too." Tian Yanyu also sat down and began cultivating.
This time, Yuan stood guard for them while scanning the area with his Divine Sense until they were done.
"Sorry for the wait." Tian Yanyu finished a little faster than her mother since she had a lower cultivation base, thus less spiritual energy to restore.
Tian Suyin opened her eyes two hours later.
Once they were prepared, they resumed their journey towards the Sword Temple.
"What?! Yuan was just awake?!" Chu Liuxiang came out of her room literally ten minutes after Yuan returned to Cultivation Online.
"Yes." Meixiu nodded, and she recalled Yuan's experience for her.
"I can't believe I just missed him… If only I had managed to break through a few minutes earlier!" She sighed out loud.
"You had a breakthrough? Congratulations." Meixiu said.
And she continued, "But even if you came out in time to see Yuan, he wouldn't have any time since he had to rush back into Cultivation Online."
Chu Liuxiang narrowed her eyes at Meixiu in a suspicious manner, "You seem happy— a lot more happy than the last time I saw you. I bet you had a lot of fun with him today."
Meixiu chuckled, "Indeed, I did— the whole night."
Chu Liuxiang sucked her teeth, "Well aren't you lucky…"
"Did he say when he'll take a break again?" She then asked.
"No, but he did say that he will try to take breaks as often as possible."
"That's good to hear."
A week later.
"Hm? There's something happening up ahead." Yuan suddenly warned the others.
"What do you see?" Tian Yanyu asked.
"There's a large group of Cultivators currently engaged in a fight with this massive magical beast. Should we go around them?"
Tian Suyin's eyes flickered with a profound light after hearing this.
"No! That magical beast is an event! If we defeat it, we'll be rewarded!"
"Are you sure? There are already people fighting it. If we enter now and steal their kill, they'll probably come after us…" Tian Yanyu said.
"There's no need to worry. Inside the Nameless Emperor's Tomb, magical beasts are free for all, so it doesn't matter who was first to fight it. If they cannot kill the magical beast and someone comes along to take it from them, they can only blame themselves for not being able to defeat it fast enough."
"Is that so?" Yuan mumbled.
If he had to be honest, he had this urge to fight this magical beast the moment he laid eyes on it, and Tian Suyin's words only convinced him to do so.
"Alright, I'm going to take care of this magical beast real fast and see what kind of reward I'll get from it. The two of you should stay far away just in case they attack me afterwards." He said to them a moment later.
"I understand." Tian Yanyu nodded.
A few minutes later, Yuan could see the magical beast's massive figure in the distance.
Tian Yanyu gasped in shock when she saw it.
"Heavens…" Tian Suyin was just as surprised. "I have seen plenty of magical beasts before in this place, but none of them could compare to this beast's size!"